Your auto insurance rate depends on who you are as a driver, as well as your age, your credit, your vehicle, and your location. How insurance companies weigh these attributes is reflected in your premium. For example, having a limited driving history or a poor credit score can raise your rates dramatically. Our analysis of major rating factors shows how premiums shift from company to company.

Let's use the aftermath of a major storm to illustrate the differences between collision and comprehensive. Within that storm, let's consider two hypothetical events: First, a heavy telephone pole was blown down and fell on your truck, or second, you swerved to avoid a falling tree and wound up crashing into a guardrail. In the first event, you couldn't control when or why a tree fell on your car. This kind of accident would get reimbursed under your comprehensive policy. In the second situation, you were driving the car and ultimately swerved into the guardrail. This makes it a collision, and collision insurance pays for the damages.

State legislators set limits on how much a company can increase your rates after a crash. Our hypothetical accident resulted in only $2,000 worth of damage. That caused average annual rates to spike by $1,000 or more in some states, while others jumped by far less. One thing’s for sure: Your rates will definitely increase after an at-fault accident, so be sure to compare car insurance rates if you have one on record.
If you’ve ever compared car insurance rates, you know how many options are available. Depending on a variety of individual rating factors, certain companies will price your insurance differently. You could end up paying more by choosing the wrong company or failing to compare enough companies. We've outlined the factors that go into your car insurance premiums, as well as some tips for how to find the best possible rates. Let’s get started.

On the other hand, states where most of the drivers are properly insured and reside in rural areas saw some of the lowest car insurance rates. Maine climbed to the top of the heap this year with an average annual premium of $845, which is 42 percent below the national average. Wisconsin moved into the second place and Idaho stays in third place for the second year in a row. Iowa and Virginia filled out the top five.

“Florida has a larger percentage of riskier drivers,” points out Karen Kees, press secretary at the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. “There are a high number of students due to the many universities in Florida, older drivers due to the large number of retirement communities, and drivers unfamiliar with the local roads due to our popularity with tourists.”
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Idaho is pretty sparsely populated and mainly rural which leads to lower car insurance rates. According to World Atlas, Idaho has the seventh least population density in the country. There are roughly 20 people for every square mile. Wide-open spaces with few people mean fewer cars out on the road and fewer accidents, everything an insurance company loves.

This wrebsite provides general information for educational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. We make no guarantees as to the validity of the information presented. Your particular facts and circumstances, and changes in the law, must be considered when applying insurance law. You should always consult with a competent auto insurance professional licensed in your state with respect to your particular situation.

When comparing car insurance quotes, it helps to compare apples to apples; in other words, you want to be sure that the quotes you get are for identical - or at least very similar - auto insurance policies. Once you have a better idea of the type of coverage you’re looking for in a policy, this will be easy. To better understand coverage types start here

Progressive has a slew of available discounts — sharing the top spot for most discounts with Farmers. There’s even one for adding a newly-licensed teen driver to your existing auto policy (surprising given that teenage drivers are among the riskiest to insure). But a policy loaded with discounts isn’t necessarily cheaper than a non-discounted policy, and the Texas Department of Insurance’s data on premiums show that Progressive is, on average, the most expensive for young drivers among the top five in Texas.

Want to know how much a particular model car costs to insure in your state? The car insurance comparison by vehicle tool will tell you. It provides average car insurance quotes for approximately 3,000 models. This tool is a great way to compare insurance quotes on various vehicles before making a decision on which one to buy. Knowing the cost of insurance is a vital part of the car-buying process because it affects your overall car budget.

The cheapest car insurance, period, will likely carry the minimum coverage required in your state. In most states, this is liability insurance only, which covers property damage and medical bills for others due to accidents you cause. Some states also require uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which pay for your injuries or damage if an at-fault driver doesn’t have enough insurance.
There isn’t a definitive answer to the question, “which company is the cheapest?” Some companies are cheaper than others, plain and simple, but individual details of your driving profile can affect which companies offer you the cheapest rates. For example, while Nationwide wasn’t the cheapest for a driver with a clean record, it was the relatively cheap for a driver following an at-fault accident. The best way to find cheap car insurance is to compare as many companies as possible using your driving profile.
Let's use the aftermath of a major storm to illustrate the differences between collision and comprehensive. Within that storm, let's consider two hypothetical events: First, a heavy telephone pole was blown down and fell on your truck, or second, you swerved to avoid a falling tree and wound up crashing into a guardrail. In the first event, you couldn't control when or why a tree fell on your car. This kind of accident would get reimbursed under your comprehensive policy. In the second situation, you were driving the car and ultimately swerved into the guardrail. This makes it a collision, and collision insurance pays for the damages.
The amount of coverage required by law varies from state to state. If you are a cautious person, you might opt for a more expensive policy with better coverage. If you have a lot of assets, experts recommend that you get enough liability coverage to protect them; otherwise, the other party involved in an accident could sue and attempt to collect on those assets.

We analyzed premiums for a variety of policies and customer profiles to determine the average cost of life insurance across a number of different policy durations. The largest influencing factors on life insurance rates are the health of the individual being insured and their age. Factors such as whether or not you smoke, and what your height-to-weight ratio are also go a long way towards determining your annual life insurance policy quotes. Individuals that smoke often pay three times the amount that similar non-smokers will have to pay in premiums. Of course, life insurance companies will look at many other factors besides health (such as your occupation and age) but factors common in pricing other insurance products, like state of residence, are often not contributing factors.

Amica consistently ranks among the top homeowners insurance companies for J.D. Power, and for good reason. It’d be easy to chalk it up to “good customer service”, but what exactly do customers value most when judging how good or bad a company’s customer service is? Insurance claims and how communicable they are through the underwriting process. When filing a claim with Amica, you can be sure it’ll be pain-free, mark it down.

The most popular term life insurance option on the market, the 20 year term policy provides longer coverage than its shorter-term 10 year counterpart, though it comes with higher annual rates. These policies are usually recommended for young families who often have large debts and expenses, like mortgages and school loans, that would become extremely burdensome if the breadwinner of the family happened to die unexpectedly. Twenty years is typically long enough for the family to substantially pay down these debts and reduce the potential risk of someone else having to foot the bill should something happen. Take a look at the average cost by Rate Class below:

The best car insurance companies have a few things in common: They have straightforward shopping experiences, take good care of policyholders after a crash and treat their customers with respect and courtesy. That means only insurers with high customer satisfaction scores and relatively few complaints to insurance commissioners make it to the top of our list of the best auto insurance companies.
Let's use the aftermath of a major storm to illustrate the differences between collision and comprehensive. Within that storm, let's consider two hypothetical events: First, a heavy telephone pole was blown down and fell on your truck, or second, you swerved to avoid a falling tree and wound up crashing into a guardrail. In the first event, you couldn't control when or why a tree fell on your car. This kind of accident would get reimbursed under your comprehensive policy. In the second situation, you were driving the car and ultimately swerved into the guardrail. This makes it a collision, and collision insurance pays for the damages.